


Partners

by Smokestarrules



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, Gen, the rest of their squad are all mentioned but I Don't want to type them all out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24427570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smokestarrules/pseuds/Smokestarrules
Summary: Krista's the Sweet One, but only on the outside. Thank god only one person had ever been able to see through that facade.OrKrista thinks about her friends and has a lot of self-loathing™ And Ymir is there too.
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss & Ymir, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	Partners

_Partner_

All her life Krista’s been controlled. She’s not even sure how she got here, to be honest. She certainly doesn’t understand _why_ she’s here. 

But she doesn’t mind. 

Despite the looming threat of fighting Titans, it’s nice, really, to get in a system with the other cadets. She befriends most of them, and for her, at least, the friendship is real, even if she lies every other sentence.

_(She doesn’t want to, but there’s no other options. No one can know who she really is.)_

Her favorite people are Reiner, Connie, Sasha, and, of course, Ymir. 

Reiner’s besotted with her, and Krista isn’t too naive to not use that for her own benefit. Sometimes, when she’s feeling particularly selfish, she swaps lookout shifts with him if only to spend more time on her own. He agrees to whatever she says, and she can’t find it in herself to care if that’s horrible of her.

Connie, Sasha, and Marco are some of the few genuinely good people who still exist. Krista knows for sure _she’s_ not one of them. She thinks Armin is as well, but she’s not close with him, probably because he never bothered to befriend anyone he hadn’t already by the time he joined the cadet corps. Connie and Sasha are jokesters, two of a kind, and they shine brighter than anyone else here. Krista knows that if they survive well into adulthood, they’ll provide good role models for the next generation. 

Marco is kind to her, and she in return. He’s nice, but he never seems to be _all there,_ always looking out upon the horizon, and Krista’s almost positive if it comes down to it, he’ll be the first of them all to go. 

_(That’s a thought only someone terrible would think, she knows)_

Armin, Eren, Mikasa, Jean, Bertholdt, she doesn’t know them very well. None of them ever make an effort to get to know her, and so she never does either. There’s no point. 

Sometimes, though, when she can get away from Ymir’s constant presence, she sits quietly with Annie. Krista doesn’t try to talk to the other girl, because she knows there’d be no response, so they just watch everyone else scramble around the dorms. Annie has something inside of her, although what exactly Krista can’t say. But whatever it is, it speaks to Krista. She doesn’t pretend that they’re two sides of the same coin; Annie and Mikasa have some weird _thing_ of tension between them that says that’s _their_ title.

But Annie never asks anything of Krista, which is a rarity, and so they sit in silence.

Krista’s used to being asked for things. She’s one of the few here to openly show kindness _(even if usually that kindness is nothing more than an act)_ and she doesn’t blame everyone for flocking to her. None of them are used to kindness, after all. They take what they can get.

So she gives and gives and disguises her walls so thoroughly that almost no one ever knows they even exist. 

_(Because Krista’s just nice. That’s her only personality trait; she’s the Sweet One, and she’s okay with people seeing her like that. It’s better than the alternative.)_

Except one.

Ymir sees _her._

For reasons Krista can’t _fathom_ , Ymir sees right through her facade of naivety _(because that’s what kindness is, in this world)_ and her gaze cuts deep into the center of Krista’s heart. She sees her _ugliness._

_(She doesn’t fall for the bullshit Krista regularly spews out.)_

With that knowledge, Ymir has the power to destroy her. To break her down, piece by piece until nothing is left.

But Ymir isn’t like that. She doesn’t break down Krista’s walls - because they are impenetrable - or even climb over. She doesn’t _do_ anything, really. She’s patient, and sweet - endlessly sweet, even if no one else sees it - and she _waits_ , just outside, watching, until Krista comes to _her._

Krista tells Ymir first, about her decision to join the Scouts. It goes over just about as well as she’d expected; Ymir shouts at her, angry and confused and _petrified_ with fear and goes on about how she _can’t believe this, you’re gonna give your life up that easily?_ and _no one ever survives the Scouts, you can’t,_ and _I can’t believe you._ She yells and she scoffs and she shifts on her feet as if she’s fighting off an intense need to run and get away from what Krista is telling her. “Have fun dying,” Ymir says before stalking off to sulk for the rest of the night. 

They both know Ymir will be following her; they both know Ymir would follow her anywhere. 

Krista doesn’t know what she’s done to deserve Ymir, and the thought of the tall girl’s utter devotion to her makes Krista hate herself so much it hurts.

She does ask her about it once, before the Female Titan _(not Annie don’t think of her as Annie)_ throws everything to hell. She asks _why me_. 

Ymir scoffs at the question, because of course she does; god forbid she ever take anything seriously. She makes some joke, but Krista’s not in the mood, and she tells the taller girl as such with just her expression. Ymir sobers when she meets her gaze, and then, eventually, just shrugs. “Dunno,” she says, eyes flicking away from Krista’s, a sure sign she’s telling the truth. “There’s just something about you.”

Which is strange. Krista’s not so stupid to think Ymir is perfect, she’s not; anyone with eyes could see that, but. Krista’s always considered Ymir above her in morality. It’s strange to her that Ymir feels the opposite way.

Because Ymir _does_ care. She can act as much as she’d like, with her dramatic outbursts and stalking away and mean-spirited words. They don’t fool Krista. Ymir’s here only out of her own self-interest, but there’s something else. 

_(If only Krista could read Ymir as effortlessly as Ymir could read Krista.)_

“I’ll get you killed,” Krista says finally, because she will. It’s only a matter of time before her past catches up with her. She hopes to be long gone by the time it tries. 

“Eh,” Ymir looks up to the sky; still doesn’t meet Krista’s eyes. Her stance is uncharacteristically vulnerable. “I’ll probably bite the dust sometime soon anyway, yeah? We all will; no point in doing anything we don’t wanna.”

And wasn’t _that_ just an interesting outlook on life?

Krista doesn’t know how to respond to that, so she stays silent. After a moment, Ymir laughs quietly to herself, turning her head to finally meet Krista’s gaze. “Besides. Can’t go anywhere ‘til you tell me who you really are, right?” She winks, a sly grin taking up most of her face.

Krista rolls her eyes. She’s forever grateful Ymir hasn’t pushed that issue, not seriously at least. She’s afraid of saying her real name out loud: as if it isn’t real unless she does so. “I suppose so,” she says, making Ymir chuckle. When she looks back up, Ymir is watching her with a soft expression.

Ymir is someone who is never seen without a smug grin on her face, but sometimes, very rarely, she’ll let loose a real smile. Krista’s positive she’s the only one to ever see it. And, with how beautiful Ymir looks with that particular expression, Krista can’t believe her luck. Ymir seems to be in an odd mood, and where she would usually jump and turn away at being caught staring so blatantly, this time she doesn’t back down from Krista’s gaze. And the smile never leaves her face. Even her eyes are soft.

They watch each other for a long moment before Commander Levi’s yelling startles them enough to snap them out of it. He’s ordering everyone to the barracks. 

As she stands up, Krista can’t help but laugh. She doesn’t know why. Ymir does some movement that makes her back make a horrendous cracking sound, and they walk back together.

Always together.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I love Historia (Even though she's not my favorite character) with a passion and she and Ymir are Very interesting to me,


End file.
